Locking member

ABSTRACT

A locking member being provided with a parallel to a side face running primary recess within an internal or external rim surface. This primary recess is dividing the member into a solid supporting portion and a first portion having a side face provided with a locking member, the depth of the recess being such that the member formes one integrated single piece. The side face of the first portion is divided by secondary cuts carried through a central point of symmetry forming a number of sectors corresponding to the number of desired locking members, the secondary cuts at the same time constituting gripping surfaces for tools for the manipulation and use of the member. The locking member also provides internal or external locking to an internal or external threaded but also non-threaded surfaces.

The present invention relates to an internal or external locking memberand more exactly a locking member or a locking nut for an internal orexternal threaded or non-threaded surface.

PRIOR ART

Within mechanical engineering there is a great demand of locking membersin the form of locking nuts. Locking nuts are normally available in twodifferent applications, partly in a so called self-locking applicationand partly in an application having a mechanically influenced device tolock the nut in a certain fixed position. A self-locking nut maynormally be used one time only, while the other type of nut is intendedto be used a number of times still having adequate locking capacity.

Prior art presents numerous locking elements of the latter type. InGB-A-2 221 506 is disclosed a lockable threaded member for axialadjustment. The member presents radial slots dividing the member intothick and thin cantilevered portions. The thin cantilevered portions,generally of a number of two, may each axially be displaced relative tothe thick portion by means of a pulling screw. A disadvantage with thistype of locking is that when releasing a locked member, the member mustbe knocked free to cause the thin cantilevered portions to return toneutral positions after the screw is released. As in the demonstratedembodiment this member demands a special pinned tool for each dimensionof such a locknut to be able to convey it an or off a thread.Furthermore the design also implies that the number of locking meanswill be limited.

In a Swedish document SE 431 011 is disclosed another variant of alockable nut comprising two annular portions connected by preferablyelastic means. Locking occurs by tightening of a screw arranged i one ofthe portions of the nut and resting against the other portion of thenut. The design has the known disadvantage that it generally will tiltsomewhat on the thread due to that the principle of locking is based ona tilt of one portion in relation to the other portion. Additionally themanufacturing is unnecessary complicated due to that, except the lockingscrew itself, the locking nut comprises a number of separate differentelements. Also here is generally needed a special tool for eachdimension of the nut to tighten the nut and dependent of if the nut isprovided with a female or male thread.

In a German document DE-2 228 062 from 1972 is additionally disclosed alocknut having a wedge-shaped cut permitting the nut to be clamped bymeans of a screw. This nut then also suffers from the same disadvantageof not locking flat with the thread by becoming unsymmetrical in theaxial direction from the way it is being clamped upon locking.Furthermore such a nut may be hard to release as it simply may damagethe threads by being deformed upon locking. An almost identical solutionhaving the same disadvantage is also disclosed in the document FR 668722 dated Jul. 22, 1929.

In GB-1 392 182 is also disclosed a design having a rigid collar and amember having a cylindrical passage for a shaft, whereby it is providedwith means for tilting of the rigid collar relative to the member at aposition to get a misalignment between the collar and the member toachieve a locking operation.

Additionally in GB-A-2 177 178 is disclosed an adjustable locknut beingadjusted by a radially inserted locking screw. The drawback of thisdesign is that it is only applicable where a peripheral access of thenut always is possible. The design furthermore is only applicable for alocking against a male thread.

A British document GB-1 296 887 and a French document FR-2 407 385discloses a locknut for internal respective external locking. Bothdesigns rely on a partly conical shape of a part the threaded portion ofthe element, which has a drawback that these nuts show a large frictionwhen used and will consequently wear the thread of the correspondingelement where the locking is performed.

Finally from U.S. Pat. No. 3,168,228 is known a device to render aclamping action by means of a number of bolts clamping a member whichthen expands in radial direction. However, this design is merely thoughtto be used as a locking seal and has limitations for a general lockingoperation as this design demands that locking takes place against twoopposite cooperating faces.

Still there is a need and a desire for an internal or external lockingmeans for an internal or external threaded or non-threaded surface. Thedemand is that the means should be simple and economical to manufactureand at the same time offer repeated use and offer a locking positioningthe locking means absolutely perpendicular to the longitudinal directionof the threaded or non-threaded surface.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Therefore there is an object according to the present invention toprovide a locking member comprising a primary recess running in an inneror an outer rim surface, the recess in the inner or outer rim surfacedividing the member into a fixed second supporting portion and a firstportion containing locking means, which due to a symmetric arrangementdo position the locking member with no tilt, perpendicular to thelongitudinal direction of the surface against which the locking is to bemade.

Another object of the invention is to provide a member for internal orexternal locking against a structural shape of a general configuration,where the locking surface is continuous, but slightly articulated by thedivision of the side face into sectors provided with locking means.

Additionally there is an object of the present invention to provide alocking member offering locking both against a round female thread aswell as a non-threaded surface.

Furthermore there is an object of the present invention to provide alocking member offering locking both against a round male thread as anon-threaded surface.

Another additional object of the present invention is to provide alocking member which due to its basic design also offers simple definedgripping surfaces for the manipulation of the locking member by a tool.

Furthermore there is another object of the present invention to providea locking member being simple and economical to manufacture anddemanding a less number of tools to manipulate different dimensions ofthe locking member, the gripping surfaces obtained due to the basicdesign facilitating that the same simple tool may be used independent ifthe clamping is intended to be made internal or external and also withindefined dimension ranges having different sizes of locking members.

There is another additional object of the present invention to provide alocking member simply replacing a locknut, but having very distinctlocking capabilities in positioning the locknut absolutely perpendicularto the longitudinal direction of the threaded or non-threaded surface,the locking member if desired being provided with, for example, an outerhexagon to equivalently replace an ordinary locknut.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described in a number of preferredembodiments by means of the attached drawings where corresponding partsare given the same reference numbers and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a lockingmember for external clamping according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is side elevation view of the locking member in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a horizontal top view of the locking member in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a lockingmember for internal clamping according to the present invention,

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the locking member in FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a horizontal top view of the locking member in FIG. 4,

FIG. 7 is an additional preferred embodiment of a locking memberaccording to the present invention designed as a hexagon locknut,

FIG. 8 is demonstrating an alternative embodiment of the locking deviceaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a horizontal top view of an alternative embodiment depicting alocking member wherein each segment comprises more than one lockingmeans.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1 is demonstrated a preferred embodiment of a locking memberaccording to the present invention. The locking member consists of abody 10 defined by an outer rim surface and having a first and a secondside face with a through hole 13 defining an inner rim surface. Thethrough hole in the preferred embodiment is shown as a round hole butmay in principle take any form for a non-threaded locking member.Furthermore, the member 10 is provided with a primary recess 12 dividingthe outer rim surface into two continuous portions 14 and 16,respectively. The primary recess 12 has a depth which at all positionsis less than the distance between the inner and outer rim surfaces. Theportion 14 then constitutes a second supporting portion with the secondside face, while the first portion 16 is having the first side face andis divided at this first side face by one or more secondary cuts 18perpendicular to the first side face. In the preferred embodiment ofFIG. 1 is demonstrated two crossing secondary cuts 18 dividing the firstside face into four sectors 17. In each of the sectors there is athrough hole housing a locking means 11 in the form of a bolt, while inanother embodiment such a sector preferably contains several lockingmeans for larger dimensions of the locking member. The secondary cutshave a depth such that those extend into about half the width of theprimary recess 12, such that a sector is formed, whereby the lockingmeans in each sector is utilizing a lever effect.

From FIG. 2 may be seen, being a side elevation view of the member 10 ofFIG. 1, that the bolts being threaded in the first portion may betightened such that these will rest against an inner surface of therecess 12, which consequently if the bolt is further tightened, in adirection away from the supporting portion 14, will displace the sectorportion 17 having the locking bolt. In FIG. 3 is illustrated the lockingmember in a horizontal top view showing the symmetric positioning of thesecondary cuts and the bolts 11 constituting the locking means.Furthermore is demonstrated that the depth of primary recess leaves aconnecting portion of the order of a tenth of the distance between theouter and inner rim surface.

Although not necessary, where appropriate the through hole 13 may beprovided with a female thread to facilitate attaching member 10 to asuitable structural shape such as a round, flat or a threaded bar. Dueto the symmetric positioning of the locking means 11 the member may beclamped precisely aligned onto the bar. If both the bar and the memberare provided with corresponding threads the locking will not involve anydestruction of the threads and the member may be repeatedly locked ontoand released from the bar. By the design of the sectors the memberimmediately releases from the bar and may easily be turned when thepressure of the locking means is decreased. The member will lock alreadyat a slight tightening of only one locking means due to that the lockingsurface being continuous, whereupon by crosswise tightening of thelocking means the locking member will without tilt precisely bepositioned on the bar independent if it applies to a threaded ornon-threaded clamping. This tightening is made where appropriate bymeans of a dynamometric wrench.

In FIGS. 4 to 6 is demonstrated a corresponding preferred embodiment forinternal locking. The member 20 presents a corresponding recess 12 andcorresponding secondary cuts 18 forming four sectors 17 each having anown locking means 11. Here the sectors 17 are arranged having a smallraised collar 22 along the outer rim toward which the head of thelocking bolt 11 constituting the locking means will rest.

In FIG. 5 may be seen different from FIG. 2 that the bolts 11 are longerand are threaded into the supporting portion 14, whereby in this casethe locking means in the form of bolts will get a pulling effect, andthe force of which will be enhanced by the raised collar such that thesectors will strive to move towards the supporting portion upontightening of the bolts 11. In FIG. 6 the locking member is shown in ahorizontal top view demonstrating the symmetric positioning of thesecondary cuts and the raised collar 22 and the bolts 11 constitutingthe locking means. Furthermore is seen that the depth of the primaryrecess 12 leaves a continuous portion of the order of a tenth of thedistance between the outer and inner rim surface.

Where appropriate the outer rim surface is provided with a male thread,which anyway is not necessary for the member 20 to be locked against asuitable hollow structural shape, for example in the case of thepreferred embodiment a round, flat or internally threaded, suitablehollow tube. Due to the symmetric positioning of the locking means 11the member may be locked precisely aligned within the hollow tube. Ifboth the hollow tube and the member are provided with correspondingthreads the locking will not involve any destruction of the threads andthe member may be repeatedly locked into and released from the hollowtube. By the design of the sectors the member immediately releases fromthe hollow tube and may easily be turned when the pressure of thelocking means is decreased. The member will lock already at a slighttightening of only one locking means, whereupon by crosswise tighteningof the locking means the locking member will without tilt precisely bepositioned within the hollow tube independent if it applies to athreaded or non-threaded clamping. This tightening is made whereappropriate by means of a dynamometric wrench.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the locking member, here in the formof a hexagon nut, which in the embodiment shown is provided with threesectors 17 and three locking means 11. The member in FIG. 7 furthermorehas the primary recess made in the inner rim surface contrary to theelements shown in the FIGS. 1 and 4. The embodiment shown in FIG. 7 isintended for an external locking is provided with a female thread,whereby the locking means 11 preferably are designed as pulling boltssimilar to the embodiment of FIG. 4.

In an additional embodiment (FIG. 8) of the locking member correspondingto FIG. 4 for internal locking the primary recess is arranged at theinner rim surface in the same manner as in FIG. 7, whereby the lockingmeans preferably are constituted by pushing bolts equivalent to thedesign of FIG. 1. A locking member for internal locking having theprimary recess arranged at the inner rim surface consequently does notneed any raised collar arranged underneath the head of the bolt. At thesame time the member will hereby present a continuous face towards theinternal surface where the locking will take place.

Finally, FIG. 8 shows in section a preferred embodiment having thelocking means as an inclined pushing bolt, whereby the member forinternal locking is arranged having the primary recess 12 at its innerrim surface. As may be seen from FIG. 8 the shoulder surface 32 in theprimary recess 12 is arranged having a small angle of the order of 3°-5°to the end surface 31 of the bolt. In a corresponding manner in thepreferred embodiment of FIG. 1 the inner side surface is inclinedtowards the second supporting portion 14 of the recess constituting theshoulder surface within the primary recess 12 against the straightinward directed locking means 11 to enhance the shearing force for theclamping of the locking member, also facilitating that it will bepossible to decrease the dimension of the bolt constituting the lockingmeans.

The locking member according to the present invention offers a simplebut very precise locking at the same time as the member in production isvery economical and may automatically be produced in large series at lowcosts. The present invention has been described by means of preferredembodiments but may be changed and modified in a numerous ways by aperson skilled in the technique without departing from the scope of theinvention.

We claim:
 1. A locking member for one of internal and external lockingsurfaces with one of threaded and non-threaded surfaces, comprising afirst and a second side face, an outer rim surface, a through hole (13)forming an inner rim surface, locking means (11) in a form of bolts inthe first side face and a primary recess (12) running in one of saidinner and outer rim surface, the first side face being sectionalized byradial cuts extending to said primary recess to form sectors which areessentially independent stiff resilient segments, each segment beingprovided with a locking means,said primary recess (12) and said firstand second side faces together forming a first inner surface and asecond inner surface which is substantially parallel to said first innersurface and which divides said member into a solid second supportingportion (14) with said second side face and a thinner first portion (16)with said first side face having symmetrically arranged locking means(11) at said first side face, said locking means being threaded into thethinner first portion (16) and having a second end resting against saidsecond inner surface closest to said solid second supporting portion(14) presenting thereby a pushing function against said solid supportingportion (14), the depth of said primary recess (12) being slightly lessthan the thickness of material between the outer rim surface and theinner rim surface such that said locking member is formed as anintegrated piece.
 2. The locking member according to claim 1 whereinoneof said inner and outer rim surface is one of circular and symmetricallypolygonal.
 3. The locking member according to claim 2, whereinsaidthrough hole (13) has a circular shape and is provided with a femalethread, to be able to be locked onto an externally threaded element. 4.The locking member according to claim 2, whereinsaid outer rim surfaceis circular and provided with a male thread, to be able to be lockedinto an internally threaded element.
 5. The locking member according toclaim 2, whereinsaid locking means are positioned symmetrically at eachformed sector into holes through each sector (17), the locking means(11) in each sector being perpendicular to said second inner surface ofthe primary recess (12) and to the solid second supporting portion (14)of the locking member.
 6. The locking member according to claim 2,whereinsaid first side face comprises an inclined portion into which thelocking means extends and that in each sector locking means is arrangedperpendicular to said inclined portion of said first side face of saidthinner first portion (16) and inclined towards the second inner surfaceof the primary recess (12) at the solid second supporting portion (14).7. The locking member according to claim 6, whereinthere is arranged aninclined shoulder surface (32) at the second inner surface in saidprimary recess (12) towards the solid second supporting portion (14)preferably having a corresponding small inclination to an end surface ofan inclined second end (31) of the locking means (11).
 8. The lockingmember according to claim 1 whereineach segment comprises more that onelocking means.
 9. A locking member for one of internal and externallocking surfaces with one of threaded and non-threaded surfaces,comprising a first and a second side face, an outer rim surface, athrough hole (13) forming an inner rim surface, locking means (11) in aform of bolts in the first side face and a primary recess (12) runningin one of said inner and outer rim surface and the first side face beingsectionalized by radial cuts which extend to said primary recess to formsectors which are essentially independent stiff resilient segments, eachsegment being provided with a locking means,said primary recess (12) andsaid first and second side faces together forming a first inner surfaceand a second inner surface which is substantially parallel to said firstinner surface and which divides said member into a solid secondsupporting portion (14) with said second side face and a thinner firstportion (16) with said first side face having symmetrically arrangedlocking means (11) at said first side face, said locking means beingthreaded into the solid second supporting portion (14) while one of afirst end and a head is resting against a raised collar (22) at an outeror inner edge of said first side face of said thinner first portion(16), presenting thereby a pulling function towards said solid secondsupporting portion (14), the depth of said primary recess (12) beingslightly less than the thickness of material between the outer rimsurface and the inner rim surface such that said locking member isformed as an integrated piece.
 10. The locking member according to claim9, whereinone of said inner and outer rim surface is one of circular andsymmetrically polygonal.
 11. The locking member according to claim 10,characterized inthat said through hole (13) has a circular shape and isprovided with a female thread, to be able to be locked onto anexternally threaded element.
 12. The locking member according to claim10, characterized inthat said outer rim surface is circular and providedwith a male thread, to be able to be locked into an internally threadedelement.
 13. The locking member according to claim 10, whereinsaidlocking means are positioned symmetrically at each formed sector intoholes through each sector (17), the locking means (11) in each sectorpresent being perpendicular to said second inner surface of the primaryrecess (12) and to the solid second supporting portion (14) of themember.
 14. The locking member according to claim 10, whereinsaid firstside face comprises an inclined portion into which the locking meansextends and that in each sector, locking means is arranged perpendicularto said inclined portion of said first side face of said thinner firstportion (16) and inclined towards the second inner surface of theprimary recess (12) at the solid second supporting portion (14).
 15. Thelocking member according to claim 14, whereinthere is arranged aninclined shoulder surface (32) at the second inner surface in saidprimary recess (12) towards the solid second supporting portion (14)preferably having a corresponding small inclination to an end surface ofan inclined second end (31) of the locking means (11).